Qualitative Content Analysis in Research on Qualification Requirements. An Example of the Analysis of Situational Demands in Didactics

Abstract

In this article I present methodical challenges of a research project in which a structuring qualitative content analysis based on STEIGLEDER (2008) was used to revise theoretically-developed categories of didactical situations. With the aim of inductive revision and supplementation of the category system, heterogeneous data was analyzed. The data included interview transcripts as well as action-related documents like archives of Moodle courses with meeting protocols or discussion forums from the process of didactical planning and teaching itself. There were two key challenges: 1. dealing with the various data and document types, and 2. the interpretation of multiple codings with the aim of distinguishing problematic overlaps of categories from overlaps that reflect specific characteristics of the respective action situations. With regard to the various types of data, the question of identifying coding units—as meaning units or formal coding units—in the action-related documents is discussed. Concerning multiple codings, I show the possibility of distinguishing between different forms of and reasons for multiple codings that can have different consequences for the revision of the coding frame. Thus, I propose a methodological specification of structuring qualitative content analysis in order to allow for rule-based and comprehensible ways of revising theory-based coding frames.